Document Type:  Sources Sought Notice

Notice Number:  NIST-MML-20-SS14

Title:  Cell Sorter

NAICS code of 334516 Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing

Contracting Office Address

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),

Acquisition Management Division,

100 Bureau Drive, Mail Stop 1640,

Gaithersburg, MD, 20899-1640

Sources Sought Notice NIST-MML-20-SS14

Project Title:  Cell Sorter

This is a Sources Sought Notice ONLY.  Requests for copies of a solicitation will not receive a response. 

This Notice is for planning purposes only and is not a Request for Proposal or Request for Quotation or an obligation on the part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for conducting a follow-on acquisition.  NIST does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this Notice, or otherwise pay for the information requested.  No entitlement or payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by NIST will arise as a result of submission of responses to this Notice and NIST use of such information.  NIST recognizes that proprietary components, interfaces and equipment, and clearly mark restricted or proprietary components, interfaces and equipment, and clearly mark restricted or proprietary data and present it as an addendum to the non-restricted/non-proprietary information.  In the absence of such identification, NIST will assume to have unlimited rights to all technical data in the information paper.

NO SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS EXIST AT THIS TIME.

Requirement:

NIST is seeking information on contractors who can provide instruments with the following:

1. Instrument lasers and the color channels.
2. Detection and sorting of particles ranging in diameter from 0.2 um to 30 um simultaneously.
3. Number of scattering channels (forward and side) and any second scatter channel to allow sorting of small and big particles (0.2 mm to 10 mm) simultaneously with a 70 mm tip.
4. The fluidics technology with a 70 um and 100 um tip.
5. The speed rate for data analysis and sorting speed rate with 99 % collection purity.
6. Sorting capabilities into collection vessels and into well plate.
7. Compensation matrix that will allow the end user to compensate the signal from every channel out of every other channel.
8. Providing 6 decades to 7 decades of fluorescence signal resolution to enable high accuracy.
9. Operating with 110 V.   
10. Acquisition software supporting data acquisition, data analysis, data export, and functional control of the instrument making the overall operation of the instrument simple and convenient.
11. Computer allowing visualization of data acquisition and data analysis modules.
12. The instrument must include a license to software that is designed to collect and analyze the generated data.
13. Allowing the inclusion of the additional features:
    1. Biosafety cabinet enclosure for the instrument as a means of minimizing potential aerosolized microbes during sorting.
    2. 405 nm laser with corresponding emission filters
    3. 532 nm laser with corresponding emission filters
    4. 592 nm laser with corresponding emission filters
14. Instrument installation and on-site training
15. Annual service agreements

Interested parties shall describe the capabilities of their organization as it relates to the service described above.  NIST anticipates issuing a Request for Quotation in the third quarter of FY2020 and awarding a contract no later than the fourth quarter of FY2020.

NIST is seeking responses from all responsible sources, including large and small businesses. The small business size standard associated with the NAICS code for this effort, 334516, is 1000 employees. Please include your company’s size classification and socio-economic status in any response to this notice. 

After results of this market research are obtained and analyzed, NIST may conduct a competitive procurement and subsequently award a contract.  Companies that can provide such services are requested to email a written response describing their abilities to [email protected] no later than the response date for this sources sought notice.

The following information is requested to be provided as part of the response to this sources sought notice:

1. Name, Address, DUNS number, CAGE code, and point of contact information of your company.
2. Any information on the company’s small business certifications, if applicable.
3. Description of your company’s capabilities as they relate to the services described in this notice.
4. A description of your company’s previous experience providing the services described in this notice.
5. Indication of whether the services described in this notice are currently offered via your company’s GSA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contracts, Government-wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs), or other existing Government-wide contract vehicles; and, if so, the contract number(s) for those vehicles.
6. Any published pricing.
7. Any other relevant information that is not listed above which the Government should consider in finalizing its market research.

Responses are limited to a total of twelve (12) pages. The responses must be in MS Word format.  Pages shall be 8½-inch x 11-inch, using Times New Roman 11 Point Font.  Each page shall have adequate margins on each side (at least one inch) of the page. Header/footer information (which does not include any information to be analyzed) may be included in the 1" margin space.